16 eo AU Dit BR OPN BU laa Ley 
REPORT OF THE FIRST STATEWIDE BIRD COUNT 
by VERNON M. KLEEN 
The inaugural statewide spring bird count (May 6, 1972) now is history 
and will be recorded as greatly successful. 
A result of it was a vote by the IAS board of directors to make the 
so-titled Statewide Spring Bird Count an annual function of the Society— 
with a date for the count each year to be the Saturday which falls during 
the period of May 4-10. 
Thus, the 1973 count is scheduled for Saturday, May 5. So, reserve the 
day. It is not too early to begin planning and to help find observers who 
will participate in some of those 40 Illinois counties not covered in ’72. 
Last spring, more than 650 observers participated in 62 counties (out of a 
possible 102) and found well over 200,000 birds of 256 species. Over 1,700 
party-hours were spent in the field and more than 11,000 miles were 
walked or driven by participants. Observations began as early as midnight 
and continued as late as 2200 hours; however, most observers were afield 
only during daylight hours. 
The purposes of the statewide count are to: 
® Obtain information during the spring migration (even though limited); 
® Obtain some idea of the spring abundance of each species throughout 
the state (especially non-migrants and early summer residents); 
e Initiate more group participation among birders in Illinois; 
® Create challenges and goals among birders while collecting useful 
information; 
e Aid in organization and centralization of all data about birds obtained 
in Illinois. This can be most valuable for the documentation of changing 
bird populations and, in case of declining populations, may be the alert 
necessary to initiate public concern. 
e Help coordinate statewide activities for the Illinois Audubon Society; 
e Have fun—on a statewide basis. 
Selecting a day for the count that would please everyone was im- 
possible; therefore, the following considerations were important: 
(1) It had to be a day that would be best for central Illinois; then, 
southern Illinois (best—late-April and very early May) and northern IIli- 
nois (best—mid-May) would average out. 
(2) It should be a Saturday because (from past experience) more 
people would be available to help. 
AND, GET READY FOR THE NEXT ONE: 
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 1973 
